


Forever

by Higuchimon



Series: In Any World [1]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Advent Calendar 2016, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Another AU Challenge, Diversity Writing Challenge, One Pairing Boot Camp, Other, YGOTP challenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 06:23:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8787007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Higuchimon/pseuds/Higuchimon
Summary: On the night of the winter solstice, the city offers a prize to their liege lord, the great and powerful vampire known only as Haou.  Tonight, Yubel is their offering.





	

**Collection Title:** In Any World||Title: Forever  
 **Romance:** Yubel x Juudai/Juudai x Yubel  
 **Word Count:** 5,459|| **Collection Count:** 1/5  
 **Genre:** Romance|| **Rated:** PG  
 **Challenges:** Diversity Writing Challenge, J21, one-shot collection where the oneshots are not in 100% agreement with each other (can't exist in the same canon); One Pairing Boot Camp, #35, gift; Another AU Challenge; Advent 2016, day #9, Another AU Challenge; YGOTP month, week #1, prompt: festival  
 **Notes:** This takes place in an AU. Each fic of this collection will take place in a different AU. Also, I use 'they/them' pronouns for Yubel.  
 **Summary:** On the night of the winter solstice, the city offers a prize to their liege lord, the great and powerful vampire known only as Haou. Tonight, Yubel is their offering.

* * *

No sooner did the sun set than tension in the city skyrocketed. For the last handful of days, every spare moment and many that could not have been spared had been devoted toward arranging matters for the celebration tonight. 

Tonight, the winter solstice, the longest and darkest night of the year. 

In other places, the streets and houses glowed with lights inside and out, driving back the dark, and feasting ensued as soon as possible, defying the shadows and rejoicing that they had enough food to feast at all. Winters could be harsh in this land, and not everyone survived until spring. 

Kuragari’s capital, the City of Shadows, remained dark. A few lanterns and candles hung here and there, enough so that humans could see their way, but no more. Darkness wasn’t feared here, for a multitude of reasons. 

Yubel turned away from the window, plucking listlessly at the embroidered cuff of their gown. The later it drew and the darker it got, the less they wanted to do anything but go back to bed and pretend tonight wasn’t ever going to happen. 

“You’re ready, aren’t you?” The High Priest stood in the door, tall and elegant and garbed in robes of deepest night, not nearly so fine as what wrapped around Yubel. 

For the last seven years, no one had garments as fine as Yubel’s, or food that was as enriching as what was set before them. 

“Yes.” Yubel allowed no emotion in their voice. What use did they have for emotion? 

_If I’m not dead by midnight I will be by dawn. If I’m lucky._

And they all expected Yubel to be _happy_ about this, or at least not to complain. 

All the training whispered and ghosted in the back of their mind, the lessons and rules told over and over through the passing of the years. 

This is for your own good. This is for our good, too. If you make this sacrifice for us, then no one else will have to do it for another generation. Don’t you want to do this for all of us? 

What they never said about that last part was what they really meant was that Yubel should want to do it so that _their_ children didn’t have to do this. 

Yubel didn’t have a family. Yubel had never had a family. 

The High Priest tendered a look that some might have tried to interpret as kind. Yubel didn’t dislike him. The priests weren’t allowed a say in who the sacrifice to Haou-sama was, for the simple fact that they had to take care of that sacrifice for the requisite seven years. But Yubel didn’t want to like him even the little bit that they did. 

He moved over and rested one hand on Yubel’s shoulder. “It won’t be long now. He comes once it’s fully dark.” 

“I know.” Yubel kept their voice from trembling. But how could it not tremble when death lurked only hours away? 

“Come on. It’s time for the feast, anyway.” 

The Final Feast, it was called, though there would be another for sunrise. For those who were there _at_ sunrise. 

Not for Yubel. 

But they had to attend the Feast, just so the rest of the nobles and wealthy merchants - -the ones who’d arranged for Yubel to be chosen instead of any of their children or family – knew that when Haou-sama arrived, his carefully selected and raised meal would be ready for him. 

Yubel followed the High Priest through the temple and out to the center of town where tables had been set up during the day and food spread out during the early hours of evening. Before being chosen, Yubel had taken part in setting up for one feast like this. After being chosen, Yubel scarcely set foot outside of the temple grounds. 

The High Priest – Yubel didn’t even know after all this time if he had a personal name – strode to the head of the grand table, Yubel remaining a few steps behind. All of the tables here in the city were beautifully made, handcrafted and the wood polished to a shine that reflected back starlight tonight. The chairs were likewise, each comfortably cushioned in soft, subdued colors. 

But the High Priest didn’t sit at the head, not in that chair. Yubel remembered their lessons: that seat remained reserved for Haou-sama, though he didn’t eat with his people under any circumstances. No one complained. No one wanted to see him eat anyway. 

Instead, the High Priest settled down at the seat to the left, while gesturing Yubel to take the one to the right. Yubel hated it. Like everything else tonight, it was just a reminder that they had until dawn at the latest. 

But running away wasn’t an option. There were stories told about previous offerings who’d tried to run away. Only a handful in the last five hundred years, since Haou-sama came to power, and always with the same fate: never, ever seen again. 

Not that anyone given to Haou-sama _was_ seen again, but the tales spun of their fate made the ones told of those who went quietly to theirs seem downright pleasant in comparison. 

One by one, the representatives of the noble houses joined them at the table, with merchants and some of the lesser clergy taking places farther down. Everyone chatted and laughed, with an undertone of relief that Yubel could clearly hear. Tonight, they said in words that said other things altogether, tonight they would get rid of the loose end in their fair city, and not have to worry about finding another one for years. 

Haou-sama only requested a meal-servant – a blood slave some called the position – infrequently. No one knew when he would send his call, but when it happened, it was always the same: the young man with blue hair, wearing spectacles, who was known as Haou’s chief servant, arrived in town, and made the statement, clear and simple. They had a given number of years to find and raise someone to the age of eighteen, and on the winter solstice following their eighteenth birthday, Haou-sama would appear at the festival and take them away to his castle. 

The last time the messenger appeared, it took them months to locate Yubel. 

Sometimes Yubel wondered how their life might’ve turned out if they hadn’t tried to pick the pocket of one of the high-ranking nobles’ servants. Even more often, Yubel wondered what life might’ve been like if they hadn’t been _caught_ trying to pick that pocket. 

But try they had and been caught they had, and ever since, Yubel lived on the temple grounds and ate the finest food – because Haou-sama’s future blood slave needed to be healthy – and taught every day how grateful they should be for this opportunity to do good for the city instead of having a hand chopped off or just being beheaded. 

“Thievery isn’t treated this well in other kingdoms,” Yubel’s teacher reminded them on a daily basis for the first two years. “You should consider yourself lucky.” 

Yubel didn’t. Yubel wanted out of all of this but with nowhere to go and everyone knowing what the future offering looked like, their options remained non-existent. 

And now it came down to tonight and finally all of this would be over. Yubel hadn’t thought about how much they enjoyed living until the final moments began to drift through their fingers like sand. 

Yubel knew better than to waste the food set before them. Memories of punishments when meals were left untended and forgotten did not fade easily. 

But while they ate, Yubel couldn’t shake the odd feeling of chills brushing down their spine. They checked around, trying not to look too curious about it, and froze when their eyes met a pair looking back from the deepest shadows. 

A pair of brown eyes shouldn’t have been that bright, but bright they were, and Yubel caught a glimpse of a startled expression, a mouth open in shock, and then nothing more. Yubel shifted, rubbing the back of their head. The moment their eyes met, their heart leaped up within them, and for the first time in their entire life since being chosen, Yubel wondered what it would be like to see spring again. 

_Who was that?_ Yubel started to get up, then looked at the High Priest. 

“Sir,” they said, fingers clenching on the finely woven napkin, “may I go for a walk? I’ll be back before Haou-sama arrives, I promise.” 

A few of the other nobles made disapproving noises, but the High Priest nodded without even looking at them. “Make sure that you are.” 

Yubel spared time only for a nod before stumbling down off the dais and heading for the alleyway that those eyes lurked in. Before they got out of earshot, a noble’s voice drifted on the winter winds. 

“Is that such a wise idea, Your Holiness? If Yubel doesn’t return, Haou-sama will take his anger out on us.” 

“I am aware of that. But there are guards on all the exits and there is less than an hour until Haou-sama will arrive.” The High Priest sighed. “And I trust Yubel to return. This is the last night they’ll have among us. A little freedom before the end won’t hurt.” 

None of that surprised Yubel at all. Right now, it also didn’t matter. Only meeting the owner of those brilliant brown eyes mattered. 

Yubel stumbled to a halt, trying to keep their formal robe from getting too damp in the snow, and looked around the alley. 

“Hello?” They called, voice a little subdued by the snow. “Are you there?” Yubel knew how they sounded. If there’d been someone there, they might not have wanted to stay for the feast, or couldn’t, or didn’t want to talk to them anyway. 

It wouldn’t at all be the first time that people didn’t want to talk to Yubel because of their status as Haou-sama’s future blood provider. For all that they supposedly did such a great service for the city, few people really wanted to associate with them, and the few times someone did, they only wanted to praise Yubel for taking the burden off of them. 

Yubel’s shoulders sank and they turned away, deciding that whoever it was left already. 

_I wish I could’ve at least said hi._ Yubel couldn’t remember having felt this strongly about anything or anyone before. But meeting that person seemed even more important than meeting Haou. 

“Hello.” 

It was a soft, almost nervous voice, and Yubel whirled to find the owner of those amazing brown eyes just a short distance away. A young man of about Yubel’s own age, with brown hair to match the eyes, and fine clothes, even finer than what Yubel wore. 

Yubel swallowed. It had been too long since they’d talked to someone else who wasn’t of the priesthood or nobility. It took a moment to remember how to do it. 

“Did you come here for the feast? There’s still room.” The high table had no more, but there were plenty of seats at the lesser tables, and the food was still pretty good there. 

“No. Yes. Kind of.” He rubbed the back of his head and offered up a little confused smile that struck right into Yubel’s deepest heart. “I came for the feast, but I’m not hungry right now. Maybe… maybe later?” 

Yubel nodded; the feast wouldn’t be properly cleared away until after Haou-sama came and left anyway. “I’m Yubel.” They held out a hand to the other, remembering lessons in how to greet people of greater status. “Welcome to our city.” 

“I know who you are,” he said, his voice a soft whisper. “Everyone knows about you.” 

Oh. Right. That wasn’t a surprise either. But Yubel didn’t seem quite able to put their thoughts together properly now and hadn’t since first meeting their eyes. 

“My name’s Juudai. I’ve been looking forward to tonight.” He reached out and took Yubel’s hand. “And I hoped that I could meet you a- that I could meet you.” 

Yubel nodded, catching the curious interruption but not wanting to follow up on it, not with the touch of that hand in theirs. Juudai’s skin was a bit on the chilly side, but not in a way that felt wrong. Just touching him made Yubel want to never do anything else, ever again. To spend the rest of their life holding Juudai’s hand. 

Even as the thought passed through their mind, Yubel started to draw back, remembering in unfortunate clarity what would happen later. Words hovered over their lips but they gave voice to nothing, unable to choose. 

Juudai reached for their hand again. “You don’t have to leave already, do you? It’s not going to be time for a while yet.” 

“I know,” Yubel murmured, letting Juudai hold their hand. “But I – we – you -” None of it seemed to make any sense and Yubel wished that it could. It needed to. But everything Yubel knew told them to back away, that Haou-sama would unleash hell if not given what was his by right. 

Everything Yubel _felt_ told them that staying by Juudai’s side meant more than anything ever could. 

They swallowed and tried again. “I don’t want to lose track of time.” And they knew that they would; just from the way Juudai’s eyes glimmered in shades that caught at their heart and his mouth wanted to smile and the touch of their hands made Yubel want to hold him for all time. 

“I’m pretty good at keeping track of it,” Juudai replied, with a quick smile. “We can wander around a little. No one’s going to interrupt us.” Another smile, a bit harsher, a bit stronger, but it put no fear at all into Yubel. If anything, it felt familiar. “Trust me on that.” 

“I will.” Yubel could not have known Juudai more than five minutes, but they knew already that they would trust Juudai with their very life and more. Haou be damned. Yubel had dedicated their entire life, like it or not, to Haou from the time they were eleven years old. Tonight they would take one little thing for themselves. 

Juudai’s hand closed more around theirs and he smiled. “So, you live around here. Where would be good to go tonight?” 

Yubel’s cheeks tinged briefly pink. “I don’t know. I don’t get off the temple grounds that much.” 

For a moment, they thought they saw a hint of anger in Juudai’s eyes, but that faded so quickly they decided it was a mistake. Instead, Juudai’s smile lit up again. “Then let’s wander around and see what we find.” 

That sounded good enough to Yubel and hand in hand, the two of them started through the snowy path, admiring the decorations and the few lights. 

“Are you going to miss this place?” Juudai wanted to know. Yubel thought about it before answering. 

“Not all that much.” Yubel shrugged. “I won’t really have time to miss anywhere, though, will I?” 

Juudai’s fingers tightened around theirs. “You never know. Stranger things have happened.” 

Yubel couldn’t help but laugh at that. “No one’s ever come back from there. He’s a _vampire_. Everyone knows what happens to whoever goes to him.” 

For a few minutes, only silence reigned between them, broken at last by Juudai. “Are you scared of him?” 

There was definitely something off about the question. Yubel wasn’t sure what it was, only that it didn’t sound quite right. As if it were a question Juudai shouldn’t ever ask or that they would ever have to answer. 

But Yubel answered anyway. “I don’t know. I’m not going to miss this place, but I don’t want to...I don’t want to die, either.” 

Yubel didn’t think that anyone had ever looked as surprised as Juudai did right now. 

“Why would you die? I mean, most people do die eventually, from something, but… going to him isn’t going to kill you.” 

Yubel had to smile at that. “Of course it will. He’s going to drink my blood. Probably a lot of times. It might take a while, but sooner or later...” They shook their head. It wasn’t anything to get upset about. It was what they’d been chosen for. Even if they didn’t like it. 

But now Juudai took their hand in his and stared deep into Yubel’s eyes. “Yubel, you can trust me on this. Going with him isn’t going to end up with you dead, not like that.” 

Yubel wanted to ask how he knew this, how he could offer reassurance that they could tell he meant, down the bottom of his soul. But the words stuck in their throat and they closed their other hand around his. 

“I’ll trust you,” they promised. They didn’t know why, but they did. 

Hand in hand, they kept on walking, their steps in time taking them to the temple. Juudai stopped and looked at it, a strange expression on his face. 

“So that’s where you’ve been all this time?” 

Yubel nodded. “They found me when I was about eleven. Once they were sure I was the one they wanted to send, they made sure I learned I wasn’t allowed off of temple grounds without some kind of an escort.” They snorted. “This is the first time I’ve been out since then, and the only reason is because he’s coming tonight and there are guards on all the exits.” 

Bitterness bloomed thick and harsh on their tongue and Yubel wished it could be otherwise. Even with Juudai’s reassurances, nothing could change Haou-sama’s mind if he chose to do something. 

“Yubel!” The High Priest’s voice carried over the snow-covered paths. “Yubel, his carriage has been spotted on the way!” 

Yubel looked to see him standing, waiting, and drew in a steadying breath. “I have to go now.” Their heart wrung at the thought of not being by Juudai’s side anymore. They’d likely never see one another again. 

But Juudai squeezed Yubel’s hand one more time and started to lean forward before he pulled himself back. 

“I’ll see you soon,” he promised, and that amused twinkle appeared for a few seconds in his eyes. “And remember, you don’t have anything to be afraid of. Haou-sama’s going to _love_ you.” 

Yubel tried hard not to roll their eyes. That was entirely what they feared would happen. Everyone knew what happened to a meal that was _loved_. 

But now they headed over to where the High Priest waited and Yubel took one look back, wanting to see Juudai again. 

Only Juudai wasn’t there, and there wasn’t any sign of footsteps to show which way he’d went. Yubel frowned, more than a little confused. 

_He’s really a strange guy. No one else I know would say those things he did about Haou._

Granted, Yubel didn’t know that many people in the first place. But the more they considered it, the more it just seemed strange. But there wasn’t really any time to worry about it as Yubel joined the High Priest up on the dais. From here, the main road that led into and out of town winded: the road that Haou-sama’s carriage would arrive on. 

Why a vampire needed a carriage when from all he information Yubel learned about them indicated that they could fly, Yubel didn’t know. Maybe it was for their own sake, since they couldn’t fly and it would be inconvenient to soar through the air with a flailing piece of talking dinner in their arms. 

Whatever the reason, the sound of horses making their way through the snow, pulling the carriage behind them, soon resolved into the sight of the carriage itself. It wasn’t all that big, probably enough room for two at the most, painted a cheerful shade of red with black trimmings. Both horses were black, with red ribbons woven into their manes and tails, and the coachman...Yubel hadn’t ever seen him before but from the stories, this had to be Haou-sama’s servant, the one who told the High Priest when the great lord wanted a new blood slave: blue hair and glasses. Unless there were multiple people like that in Haou-sama’s service. 

Yubel drew themselves up as tall as possible, clenching and unclenching fingers, and trying to look regal and composed, not terrified and wanting to flee for their life. 

_Juudai said I’d be all right,_ they remembered. _I’m going to trust him._

The thought of those warm brown eyes filled them with far more confidence than could have been imagined. 

The carriage drew to a halt in front of the dais and the driver jumped down and opened the door. From within the carriage, Yubel thought for the first moment that they saw Juudai’s smile. 

Then Haou-sama stepped out. He held his head high, looking over the area with a hint of disdain and mild annoyance before turning his attention to Yubel. 

Yubel tried hard to remember how to breathe when they caught sight of Haou’s eyes: pure gold, brighter than the sun. They reminded them of Juudai’s eyes in some ways, but seemed a little sharper, a little deeper. 

Then they took a better look at Haou-sama, their liege lord, and their knees shook underneath them. 

_He looks...just like Juudai. Except for the eyes, exactly like Juudai._

Yubel couldn’t tell if Haou-sama wore the same clothes, since a rich cloak wrapped all the way around him, held close to him so that nothing of what was underneath it could be seen. But the face alone… 

Yubel hadn’t ever heard that Haou had a brother of any kind. No one knew anything about him aside from the fact that he was a vampire, he ruled them all, and he had a few servants who lived with him in the grand castle. But what else could the answer be? 

The High Priest stepped forward, bowing. “Greetings and welcome, Haou-sama.” 

“Hello.” Haou-sama nodded ever so slightly, his gaze going back to Yubel a heartbeat later. “I am quite pleased to see that everything is in readiness.” 

The High Priest nodded and gestured for Yubel to come closer. He rested one hand on their shoulder once they had. “I would like to introduce you to Yubel, my lord. We’ve spent the last seven years preparing them for your arrival.” 

“I see.” Haou reached out without hesitation to take Yubel’s hand and Yubel forgot what it was to breathe. 

_Juudai. He feels just like Juudai._

“It’s quite a pleasure to meet you, Yubel,” Haou said, and his voice could only be Juudai’s, and Yubel swallowed. 

“Is it really you?” Yubel asked, voice not much louder than a whisper. 

Haou smiled and it was _Juudai’s smile_ , even with the fangs that Yubel could now see. He pulled them close and wrapped his arms tight around them. 

“It’s me, Yubel,” he murmured. “We can talk later. But it’s me.” 

In those words there ghosted much more than just having been the boy Yubel met earlier. Yubel wasn’t sure of what this more was, but it remained there anyway. 

The High Priest coughed, looking away. “I’m glad that you’re pleased, my lord. If you would please take your seat?” 

Haou-sama didn’t eat at the table, but he sat there anyway, Yubel’s hand in his as Yubel sat once more at his right hand. The idea of eating didn’t even occur to them. What mattered was being with Haou, with Juudai. 

Yubel could see people staring at them, especially some of the nobles who’d not so subtly gloated over the fact their children wouldn’t be sent to Haou. None of that mattered anymore. Haou’s hand in theirs alone mattered, as did getting the answers they wanted. 

Most of the attendants had already finished eating, but this wasn’t meant to be much of a meal anyway. Normally Haou stayed for at least a few hours, but tonight his gaze kept straying back to Yubel, caring little or nothing for the nobles who normally would be vying for his attention. 

“We hope that our gift to you is appreciated,” the highest of the nobles – a duke or something, Yubel couldn’t remember and couldn’t imagine it being important right now – said. “We’ve spent many years making certain Yubel understands you are to be obeyed without question. You’ll be very pleased, I’m certain.” 

Haou-sama turned those glistening golden eyes onto him. “If I wanted someone who didn’t have a brain, I wouldn’t want Yubel.” 

The duke shrunk back at once, mumbling something under his breath and fumbling for his wine cup at the same time. Yubel tried hard not to snicker and didn’t do a very good job of it. Haou-sama turned back to Yubel, a light smile on his lips. 

The rest of their stay passed in only a few moments, at least by Yubel’s judgment of time. Haou-sama rose up, guiding Yubel to their feet as well. 

“We have a long journey ahead of us,” Haou said. “Yubel, is there anything you wish to take with us?” 

Yubel blinked, then shook their head. There hadn’t ever been anything in the way of keepsakes collected. They’d never seen the need, not with expecting their life to end so soon. 

Haou guided them over to the carriage and helped them into it. The inside matched the outside to a degree; plush cushions in black-trimmed red, and just big enough for two people, with all of it enclosed, light provided by a set of matching crystals, one on each side. 

_So it won’t let the sun in,_ Yubel realized, making themselves comfortable. Haou got in as well, turning to face the High Priest. 

“I don’t expect to speak to you again for some time. I’ve got a lot I need to take care of,” he said, glancing back at Yubel. For a moment, his eyes flashed brown and Yubel’s heart sped up. He looked back toward the Priest then. “If anything turns up I need to take care of, send a messenger.” 

The High Priest bowed his head at once. “As you wish, my lord.” His attention slid over to Yubel. “Farewell and good luck.” 

Yubel just nodded, and Haou settled back into his seat, the door closing. Neither of them spoke a word, though their hands hadn’t left each other, as the driver got the horses moving and the trip back to his castle began. 

Only when the city faded away into the distance did Haou let out a surely unnecessary breath and close his golden eyes. When he looked at Yubel again, they were brown once again. His features softened and he raised Yubel’s hand to his lips. 

“It really is you,” he murmured, staring. “I wasn’t sure I’d ever find you again.” 

Yubel blinked a few times at that, but didn’t take their hand away. “You know I don’t know what you mean by that, my lord.” But there wasn’t any desire to remove their hand from his at all. Warmth flooded from those words, warmth and comfort and safety and _love_ above all else. 

He laughed and it rang against Yubel’s ears and in their heart like the song of creation itself. “I know you don’t. I’m sorry.” He leaned against the cushions and closed his eyes again. “I bet you’re curious, aren’t you?” 

“You have no idea, my lord.” 

One brown eye cracked open. “You don’t have to call me that. You can call me Juudai. It’s my name anyway.” He waved his free hand toward himself. “Haou is what I do. Juudai is who I _am_.” 

Yubel slowly tasted the name, more so than before, now in greater awareness of who the one next to them was. “Juudai.” It sounded right. It felt right. As if their tongue had waited all this time to say it – perhaps to say it again. 

“I’ll give you the full details once we get home and we can start looking for a way to trigger your memories: if that’s what you want.” He cast a quick look toward Yubel, then away again. “But for right now, this is what happened. About five hundred years ago, give or take, we lived in this kingdom. I was – and am – prince of Kuragari.” He waved a hand toward the no longer visible city. “We lived there, in the palace.” 

The royal palace of Kuragari hadn’t been lived in during the lifetime or memory of anyone that Yubel had heard of. It lay in quiet ruin, with most of the work necessary being done from the palace. But Juudai kept on talking. 

“You were my best friend. My father arranged a special transformation, because I needed a very special bodyguard, and you volunteered for it. It would’ve made you into a powerful dragon and we would’ve been together forever. Only something went wrong. I don’t know what. Right in the middle of everything, there was an invasion. I think they waited until all of the alchemists were working on you before they attacked the palace.” 

Juudai’s free hand clenched at his knee. “They had a vampire with them. I’m really… really not sure what happened because I don’t _remember_ anything after their vampire grabbed me. I don’t really remember _anything_ until nearly fifty years later. I didn’t even know about you until nearly a _century_ after that.” 

He turned to Yubel. “Then I saw you one morning. I was going back to my lair after feeding and I saw you, and I just remembered _everything_.” His teeth bared and his eyes flashed gold. “The one who turned me and kept me as his slave? He didn’t see the sun go down that night.” 

Yubel found their hand tightening more on Juudai’s. “Good.” There wasn’t a breath of doubt at anything that Juudai said. All Yubel could imagine was how lonely he must have been, and how much it would hurt to see him humbled and enslaved. 

“I guess they never finished changing you. You’d be really different if they had,” Juudai murmured. “No one I found ever knew what happened there. I went back and proved who I was and got the kingdom taken care of. I was going to find you again, but when I went to look again, I couldn’t find you. No one knew who you were or where you’d come from or where you were.” 

Tiny images, too fleeting to call memories, darted through Yubel’s mind. They ducked their head, trying to focus, but not doing a very good job of it. 

Juudai hadn’t finished, though. “So I started looking. I asked everyone to look for you, wherever you were, and eventually it got around that I needed blood. And most people thought that I wanted whoever I was looking for _because_ of the blood.” He shook his head. “I travel around for that. I take a few people every night. It’s easier than sucking just one person dry all the time.” 

Yubel fidgeted. “What about… all the others? Before me?” 

“They’re fine. Well, the ones who are still alive, anyway.” He laughed a little, rubbing the back of his head. “It’s been a few centuries, after all. See, I figured just because you looked like you once didn’t mean you would all the time, so I would pick out people who I thought could be you, and when they weren't you, I gave them enough to set themselves up as whatever they wanted, or to get t married, or whatever they wanted, and sent them to different parts of the kingdom, so long as they never mentioned me, or came back to the city or wherever they came from.” 

He met Yubel’s gaze head-on this time. “But I don’t think I’m going to need to do that, anymore, am I?” 

“I don’t know,” Yubel murmured. They couldn't say that they remembered, but the vague images of the past flickered in regardless. “But I don’t think so.” 

Juudai leaned in a little closer. “Yubel,” he murmured, and he sounded as if he tasted their name the way that they tasted his own. “I’ve waited a long time to say this to you. I swear, I will love only you. I don’t care what anyone else says or does or thinks. It’s just _you_ for me. Forever.” 

Yubel shivered all over before leaned back toward him. They wanted to say something else, but nothing came. It didn’t feel wrong, though. This silence between them wasn’t awkward. Rather, it felt complete. 

When the time was right, Yubel believed, the memories would slip in. Until then, they had a brand new life to get started on, and the knew that Juudai would be part of it, and they wanted that more than anything else in any world. 

**The End**

**Note:** Thank you for reading and I hope that you enjoyed the story. Please let me know what you thought of it if at all possible.


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